


cat got my tongue

by diefakewaluigi



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Cutesy, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Drabble Collection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Humor, Gender Dysphoria, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Random & Short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21683482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diefakewaluigi/pseuds/diefakewaluigi
Summary: a force of chaos isn't as fierce as theyre made out to be--and dell finds himself in love. that force finds that they might love them more than a friend, too
Relationships: Engineer/Pyro (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HI SO I LOVE TEXAS TOAST SO SO MUCH....pyros autistic in this and i hope i did a good job on that! comments of critism are greatly appericated and yeah the ends rushed sh!!  
> this will just be where i dump my ramblings of these and hope it makes sense and ill add more tags when more characters come in but for now enjoy this mess aaa

"Now darlen', you know better."

Pyro dropped their gun, looking down in shame and dissapointment. Scout eased up with the nozzle of the flamethrower wasn't mere inches away from his torso ready to engulf him in less than a second. 

"Jesus CHRIST," his voice was shaky as he try to muster words from his shakiness. "I didn't do 'nuthen to the weirdo and...and it decided to pull this shit!"

Engineer put his head in his hands. Pyro shot up and started to blurt their normal mumbles and went to the floor and lifted up their prized unicorn that was now deflated and wrinkled. Engie looked back up now at a much-more worked up Pyro who almost seemed to be in sobs.

"It was a 'freaken accient man!" Scout said trying to pick apart what they were saying. "I ain't got anything to do with that 'freaken toy!"

"Alright, Scout, just say you're sorry. It ain't that hard son," Engie went over to console Pyro and grabbed the now non-inflatable pony from their hands. 

"ME?" His demanor went from scared shitless to straight up pissed. "Pyro 'fucken tried to KILL me, and my biggest damn crime was accidentally 'poppin a dollar store toy!"

Pyro dug their masked face into Engie's chest, and Engie looked Scout dead in the eyes. Scout sighed.

"Fine. Sorry 'bout your unicorn dude." He calmed down and rubbed his neck. "Can I go now without that freak trynna kill me?" 

Engie made a head gesture for Scout to leave and Scout did just that as soon as he was given the a-okay. 

"Hey 'lil buddy, we can go into my workshop and fix this up, okay?" Engie said and Pyro looked up, body now perked. They nodded violently and Engie gave a chuckle.

\---

Dell's workplace seemed cluttered, but he knew were everything was and that's all that mattered. He took Pyro in and set down Blossom on the table and Pyro sat down. They looked back to the door and before they could even mutter, Engie looked over.

"Oh, shoot, I almost forgot!" He got up to close the door and lock it. "Alrightie, that should do it. If you wanna, you can take it off love."

And Pyro did just that. Their face was beet red, and their eyes strained from crying. Snot and tears were smudged everywhere. Engie sat down and kissed their bare head.

"Now now 'darlen, it'll be alright." He went over to get a box of tissues and Pyro went in to use them to wipe their eyes. "No need to be this worked up over somethen we can fix in such a jiffy."

Pyro nodded and smiled. 

Dell came closer and patted their back. "Did the cat get ya tongue again Py?"

Normally, those words piss off Pyro beyond belief. They delt with those sorts of things enough growing up when they went non verbal, but from Dell it felt a lot more kind and it was his way to show his support through it. 

Pyro nodded and Engie kissed their cheek. "Not a problem. You wanna help fix 'er up with me?"

Pyro nodded and Engie went over to get some tape. It was the thick, white tape--not duct tape but rather an almost clothy top and a beyond sticky bottom. He went to one of his drawers that was filled to the brim with random tacks, pins, pencils and paper and rummaged until he found a pair of big blue scissors. 

"Alright 'darlen, I want you to show me where she popped." Engie said. Pyro picked her up and felt beyond silly realising how mundane this all was. 

They weren't a kid. They weren't some child. They didn't know how old they were, but too old to be doing things like this. But they couldn't help but get attached to what was basically plastic and dye. It was theirs and they have become so attached that this almost felt like loosing a good friend. Which, of course, it really wasn't, but that's how it felt. 

They pointed at her flank, where a decent sized hole was. Engie cut a decent size piece of tape and smoothed it out, carefully putting the tape over the gash. He gave it a firm pat than went to the belly where the tube was and gently started to blow air, the once crinkled popped mess turning back into a firm creature of fantasy. 

Pyro felt a surge of sheer joy come over them! Without even knowing it they were clapping their hands and shaking their head violently, kicking their legs back and fourth. Dell smiled and handed them back Blossom, to where they grabbed her and cradled her to their chest. Their gapped grin spread across their face with no haste and their eyes wrinkled from just how big it was. 

"I'm happy 'somthen so small can make you so happy," Engie chuckled and Pyro, realizing their display, gathered themself back together and loosened the grip they had on her. Pyro felt their face go red and put their feet on the ground, legs still vibrating.

Dell patted their shoulder and they looked up at them in his eyes. "'Feeln better?"

Pyro nodded again and patted Engie back on his hard helment. Their grip on Blossom loosened as now they realize she's not as durable as she was before. Engie leaned in to press a quick kiss on their cheek.

"That's all that matters now ain't it?"


	2. mind static

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pyro has a bad hallunation episode and engie is there  
> contains heavy mentions of self harm, blood, depersonalization and dissocation/hallunating!!! be careful

there was no air.  
the atmosphere has been starved of all life, their throat felt like a snake has slithered down their esophagus, eyes watering  
there was no will.  
their body was no longer theirs, their mind belonged to them. head filled with desires that they thought they wanted, but they weren't too sure at this point.  
the rubber barely felt there against their scarred hands, their wounds have been reopened and they felt  
legs crawling all over them, and the snakes have multiplied in their throat  
there was no ground  
they floated, and their existence was one in lonely misery  
they saw faces they recognized, voices they've heard before. maybe ones of loved ones or ones they've heard in a lullaby. they were not sure.

the world came back, but not for long.  
it started to melt into a pile of wax and paint, the colours becoming monochromatic and dull. even their once bright red suit was now black and white. they wished it was nothing again.  
they didn't know a single face. some of the faces around them seemed kind, others ones of anger or stress. no face he could recgonize. they wanted to cry, but nothing came. people would get angry. screeching was heard, but none of their mouths moved.

they felt straps against the table, but they went to look down. it was no table at all. it was supposed to be warm and welcoming, why wasn't it warm and welcoming? why did it feel no different then metal? a tune played in the distance, and like a ear worm, it became lodged in their brain with no mercy of seizing. they soon realized tears were on their face. cold. wetness plastered and snot dripped from their nose.

warmth. a colour came from their nose, a nice red. the colour of their suit leaked and leaked and it went into their mouth, and it tasted like pennies. the smell of home and rust flooded their senses, the tang of a ring on their tongue felt comforting. they let their crooked teeth knaw at their finger mindlessly until another hand gently tugged their own back.

"'darlen, can you hear me?"

a pair of gentle eyes met with their own circled ones. a gentle smile fell onto their face as they touched the man's hand with their own.

they couldn't make out a lot. your underwater, they kept trying to tell him. he was dry and on land but he sounded like he was talking under water. they wanted to hear what his voice sounded like in the air. not water. they didn't want him to drown. colour started to come back into the world.

"firebug?"

it was dell. he had a name. they closed their eyes and felt like everything was starting to make some sort of sense again.

"I ain't 'drowen, firebug. I ain't 'goin nowhere, alright?"

they let themselves feel the softness underneath them. it was like a cloud now all of sudden rather than a slab of metal. their eyes felt very, very heavy.

"...base....at the base....with me..."

they soon felt themselves somehow drift. they didn't really want to sleep, but their body wouldn't let them be in the real world for too long.

when they woke up, they felt bandages on their hands. they looked down to see it was a lot more than their hands. their arms, too. everything was wrapped and bundled up to be baby-proofed on their body. 

"you're awake..." 

his voice felt like the taste of butterscotch to pyro. they nodded. mhm. 

"can I give ya a hug, son?" he asked, his arm up and ready to embrace them, and they wrapped their arms around his soft waist. dell took that as a yes and wrapped his arm around their shoulders.

"ya got..." dell trailed off. "...are your arms feelen better?"

a "hm?" was followed by them realising the stinging on their arms. it felt like they suddenly weighed like bricks, and they felt a sense of shame flood them like a waterfall. molasses, truly, a sticky stuck unlike flowing and free. 

"it's okay, okay?" he spoke, giving them a small squeeze on their shoulder. reassurances in places where they'd normally never find, like touch. dell seemed to be the exception for everything in their life.

the blood didn't feel safe anymore. it was gross, thick, and crusted under their nails and on the inside of their nostrils.

"was it the visions?"

silence.

"it's 'right if ya don't wanna talk 'bout dat, we don't gotta..."

the silence felt a lot colder than before. engie was trying to be warm, but something fell off. something didn't seem alligned with him. off. 

pyro felt isolated even with his love by his side. thoughts came through...dirty little man, that's what they were. dirty, gross disheartened and a freak.

"now, now, don't talk like that,"

thoughts were said out loud. pyro didn't want to speak every again.

"i'm sorry." their bare face finally felt the cold sting of the air contacing their teary, snotty face. their eyes were puffy, they felt them swell up. it was uncomfortable to say the least.

dell planted a kiss on their head, which lifted pyro's head up to face him. his eyes were lined with smile wrinkles and bags, but they still sparkled, and pyro could never not feel lighter from them.

"are ya in pain?"

pyro shook their head no.

"that's good, i'm happy your not. hope the bandages ain't too uncomfy for you..."

"th...thank you..." their voice started to quiver again, but they've run out of tears to cry and nothing could come out. engie passed pyro a water bottle, and pyro (t wasn't intentional for them to but nonetheless) snatched the bottle and chugged it. engie chuckled.

"well, somethen is still in ya sugarplum," and pyro looked over with a smile. they liked those words from his mouth. they were gentle. pyro, despite just waking up, felt themselves getting tired again. they went back into their prior postion and inhaled. engie looked down.

"you look beat. do you want me to stay by ya side?"

pyro nodded and wrapped their arms around his waist. engie ran his fingers over their shaved head.

"alright. that i can do."

pyro drifted off again with a smile on their face.


	3. i set you apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you don't know how lovely she is until she goes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> person who can guess the song this is based off of gets a free doodle request on tungle of anything (my tumblr is @/transheavy !!  
> this is more of a freewrite/poem thing, but it counts i hope

there was always something to him. bright eyes, indentations of goggles from  
long, hard shop nights looking at pyro. it was odd. he felt so much more human than   
him. they were in places nobody went and it was for them only.  
his room was filled, with not only  
gadgets and gizmos, but  
framed pictures of everyone he'd ever  
love. a mother, a father,  
pictures of his hair tucked under hats and  
dirty smiles and the golden hair lady.  
he loved her the most, a wedding dress  
and tuxedo he wore. younger those days  
it seemed, but his eyes twinkled the same.  
dimmed lights, rust and gasoline  
the feeling of a rubber glove and the   
outline of metal poking trough, and through all the latex and material  
pyro felt something hard, cold yet gentle.  
it was only them durning these moments,   
the sounds of creaking and rolling,  
nuts and bolts scattering on the floor.  
it was a salvation to pyro.  
smelling the petrol, and seeing the   
blueprints on the table meant so much   
to them. it was a saving grace  
and to be on a field of chaos and  
misery, hearing grunting of  
"spy's sappen my sentry!", and   
hopping to action, flicking on the fire  
in an instant. the passion was undeniable  
at it's finest. pure, nonsensical fun   
despite blood and flames.  
engie smiled a lot, and it was   
big and bright, and when they were alone,  
the stories he told from far away...of love  
and life, some silly and others  
filled with romance and tears. pyro  
loved them all  
"where did she go?"  
"the lady you talk about, with crooked teeth and  
golden hair? you love her...but the   
pictures of her are gone."  
the night went quiet, and pyro felt guilt.  
"little buddy, we ain't no more.  
i'll spare you the details...  
'runnin in circles  
and chasing tails i suppose."  
pyro felt their heart tear at this, seeing engie  
so tired and his sunshine being   
put out by rain--a scientist like him  
deserved to reveal in stars and galaxies and   
not a black hole.  
that night, pyro stayed up, coloring and   
coloring, remembering their own happy moments  
until their hand ached and they could draw no more.  
early morning, they woke up and  
saw cracked open door.  
he was awake, all night again,  
and pyro knocked and was let in. engie was suprised  
and looked at their hands. papers and   
tape,  
"lil buddy, what was ya plan?" pyro put   
the papers on the table.  
oh dell, tell me, do you remember  
when i set him on fire and he fell off the map  
even when i realized it was our spy? do you  
remember when i helped find out was   
wrong with your sentry, and when  
i first picked you up in my arms?  
dell, do you remember when   
i first saw your eyes and got scared, because  
i never thought i'd see them? dell, tell me  
you remember, because i do.  
pyro thought to say these words,  
but the tears in engies eyes said it all.  
there was now new pictures to hang on his wall,  
and though pyro was no wife,  
that didn't matter  
(to engie, they were better than that)


End file.
